FROM THIS EPISODE

You see it everywhere: Christmas candy on the shelves at Halloween time, holiday lights and decorations going up long before Thanksgiving turkeys hit the table. Christmas creep has been creeping for years, but with Black Friday sales now actually starting on Thanksgiving Day a backlash is growing against the commercialization of one of the last almost commerce-free days of the year. Guest host Sara Terry looks at what's behind the latest retail push, and who's fighting back. Also, Middle East rulers are seeking divergent paths to maintain power, and curiosity may have killed the cat, but it's heading to Mars on Saturday. NASA's newest rover is set to launch.

Banner image: Shoppers crowd a Best Buy store at dawn during Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which commences the holiday gift-buying season on November 26, 2010 in Naples, Florida. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Is there life on Mars? Scientists and science fiction writers have been puzzling over that for years. The answers may come one step closer when a new rover is launched from Cape Canaveral on Saturday. Curiosity is the biggest, most scientifically advanced Rover ever to land on another planet. It's five times bigger than predecessors Spirit and Opportunity and can operate ten times the scientific equipment. David Beaty is chief scientist of the Mars Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

As clashes continue in Egypt's Tahrir Square, reports from Yemen say the country's president has promised to step down after ten months of protest there. In Barhain, an international commission has found that security forces used excessive force, including torture, on anti-government protesters. Georgetown Professor of International Affairs Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

So maybe you've gotten used to hearing Frosty the Snowman playing in stores before trick-or-treaters ever ring your doorbell, or you've even made a list of deals you want to score on Black Friday, traditionally the biggest retail day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, big stores may have crossed one retail line too many, with Black Friday mega-sales actually starting on Thanksgiving Day. Toys "R" Us and Walmart will be opening their doors at 9 and 10 pm, with several other big chains opening at midnight. The move into Thanksgiving Day itself appears to have pushed a button among consumers and retail employees, who are fighting back. What drives the Black Friday urge, consumers who want a deal, retailers who want to sell as much as possible, or a bit of both? Could this be the year the tide starts to turn against the commercialization of one of America's most beloved holidays?